JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 20, 2009) - The ETSU baseball team lost a heartbreaker to Campbell Friday night at Cardinal Park after mounting a comeback in the bottom of the eighth, 15-12.

The Camels took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as a run came in to score on Ryan Hamme grounder to second.

Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) answered for the Bucs (7-10, 1-6 A-Sun) in the bottom of the first as he doubled down the left field line to score Troy Mendez (Roswell, Ga.) from first base to tie the game at 1-all.

Campbell jumped back in front in the top of the second as Stephen Parsons singled in a run to take a 2-1 lead.  

ETSU evened things again in the bottom of the second as Garrett May (Roswell, Ga.) drove in Cory Betterson (Atlanta, Ga.) on a sac fly to left to make the score 2-2.

In the top of the third, the Camels tacked on four runs on four hits to take a 6-2 lead.

The Camels added three more runs in the top of the fourth on a Hamme RBI single, an Alex Aycoth walk and a Josh Holskey hit by pitch to extend the Campbell lead to 9-2.

Betterson cut into the Campbell lead in the bottom of the fourth as he doubled in Ben Allen (Kingsport, Tenn.) to make the score 9-3. Later in the inning, May added another run for the Bucs as he doubled in Derek Trent (Kingsport, Tenn.) to cut the lead to 9-4.

Campbell got those two runs back in the top of the fifth as two Camel runs came in to score on an ETSU error after a Matt Keen single to make the score 11-4.

Allen came through for the Bucs in the bottom of the fifth as he singled home Mendez to cut the Camel lead to 11-5

In the top of the seventh, Campbell pushed another run across on a Buccaneer error to increase its lead to 12-5.

ETSU got a big hit from Danny Petro (Atlanta, Ga.) in the bottom of the seventh as he hammered a two run pinch hit single through the left side of the infield to cut the Camels lead to 12-7.

The Bucs then got five runs in the bottom of the eighth on a Bo Reeder (Cookeville, Tenn.) two-run home run to left center, a Betterson walk with the bases loaded to score Hoilman, and a two-run single by May to tie the score at 12-all.

Campbell answered though in the top of the ninth as the Camels scored three runs on two hits and two ETSU errors to make the final 15-12.

ETSU was led offensively by Allen as he went 5-for-6 on the night with an RBI and scored two runs. Betterson also had a good night for the Bucs as he was 2-for-2 with three walks, scored two runs and drove in two.

The Bucs are back in action tomorrow at 1 p.m. as they will face Campbell in a doubleheader at Cardinal Park. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU baseball and all other Buccaneer athletic news.

Campbell 15, ETSU 12 (March 20, 2009 at Johnson City, Tenn.)
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CU................. 114  320  103   - 15   15     0   (11-7, 2-4 A-Sun)

ETSU............ 110  210  250   - 12   18     5   (7-10, 1-6 A-Sun)

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Pitchers: ETSU - Ben Andrews; Taylor Gouffon (4); Drew Story (4); Bo Burton (6); Dustin Plumlee (9)

CU - Josh Fish; Carlton Floyd (8); Ryan Hamme (8)
Win - Ryan Hamme (2-1) Loss - Dustin Plumlee (2-3)

HR - ETSU - Bo Reeder (6)